Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 38, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

June 7, 1997Colorado County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 7, 1997, 6:38 PM CDT for Colorado County, Texas. It was in force for 37 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 7, 1997, 6:38 PM CDT (23:38 UTC)
Expired
Jun 7, 1997, 7:15 PM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Colorado County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 225 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 1997-06-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1148 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 1997-06-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -17 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1148 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
703 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
32 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KHOU 072345 RRA
TORHOU
TXC089-080015-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
638 PM CDT SAT JUN 7 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...SOUTHERN COLORADO COUNTY
 
AROUND 630 PM...THE COLUMBUS SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD
ASSOCIATED WITH A WEAK THUNDERSTORM LOCATED ABOUT 6 MILES SOUTH OF
COLUMBUS NEAR ALTAIR ALONG HIGHWAY 71. THIS STORM WAS NEARLY STATIONARY
AND PERSONS IN THE ALTAIR COMMUNITY SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THE POSSIBLILITY
OF A SHORT LIVED TORNADO.
 
IF YOU SEE SEVERE WEATHER TAKING PL4ACE... CALL YOUR REPORT TO
THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FOR IMMEDIATE RELAY TO THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Jun 7, 2:59 PM CDT, 3 hours 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 7, 2:59 PM CDT, 3 hours 39 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
259 PM CDT SAT JUN 7 1997

SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS GOING OVER ALL BUT THE SW
ZONES.  VERY SLOW MOVING STORMS PRODUCING TOTALS OF 2-3 PER HR
VIA 88D.  CENTER OF THE MCV REMAINS NEAR SEALY AND DAYTIME HEATING
HELPING TO KEEP THE PRECIP FOCUSED TO THE EAST.  SOMEWHAT DIFFUSE
STATIONARY FRONT FROM NEAR CLL TO NRN LAKE LIVINGSTON AND THEN
WANDERING OFF TO THE EAST ALSO A FOCUS FOR HEAVY RAINS.  WILL KEEP
THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH GOING FOR THIS EVENING AND LET THE EVENING
SHIFT CALL AN END TO THE FFA.   ETA/MESO-ETA/NGM FAIRLY CLOSE ON THE
SOLUTION OF THE STATIONARY FRONT FINALLY LIFTING NORTH AS CUTOFF OVER
THE SW US LIFTS NE ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON.  ALTHOUGH ETAS MOIST AXIS
WILL BE OVER THE AREA DO NOT SEE A PARTICULARLY GOOD FOCUS FOR
CONVECTION SO WILL GO WITH SCATTERED TSRA SUNDAY AND TAILING OFF
SUNDAY NIGHT TOWARD THE COAST...SCATTERED MONDAY AS WELL.  WEST COAST
KICKS OUT NM LOW AND TAKES UP RESIDENCE OVER THE WEST COAST THROUGH
THU EJECTING WEAK S/WS OUT OVER THE PLAINS.  WEAK LOW DEVELOPS IN THE
GULF ON TUESDAY WILL BE KEEPING AN EYE ON THIS.  SUBSTANCIAL LOW
DEVELOPING OVER THE SRN PLAINS TOWARD THE END OF THE WORK WEEK.

TEMPS WILL LIKELY STAY ON THE COOLER SIDE OF MOS SUNDAY AND THEN
INCREASE FOR MONDAY.

45
PRELIMS
CLL EEE 71/85/72/88 5444
IAH EEE 72/85/73/87 5434
GLS EEE 77/84/76/85 4434

The office that day

Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 6, 8:54 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXColorado3 hr
Jun 6, 11:42 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXColorado3 hr
Jun 7, 3:12 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXAustin, Washington3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes in 1997

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.